The Conversation

Cuba propone legalizar el matrimonio gay y las iglesias se atreven a salir en contra

Written by María Isabel Alfonso, Professor of Spanish, St. Joseph's College of New York

Miles de cubanos y activistas internacionales de los derechos LGBTQ participan anualmente en el evento anual, Jornada contra la Homofobia y la Transfobia en Cuba.AP Photo/Desmond Boylan

Desde mediados de agosto, los cubanos debaten una propuesta reforma constitucional que, entre otros cambios sustanciales, allanaría el camino para la legitima...

As Cuba backs gay marriage, churches oppose the government's plan

Written by María Isabel Alfonso, Professor of Spanish , St. Joseph's College of New York

As gay Cubans gain more rights, opposition is also growing.AP Photo/Desmond Boylan

Leer en español.

Cubans are debating a constitutional reform that, among other legal changes, would open the door to gay marriage. It would also prohibit discrimination against people based on sex, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity in the communist...

Are today's white kids less racist than their grandparents?

Written by Margaret Hagerman, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Mississippi State University

Do we have any reason to believe that each new generation of white people will be more open-minded and tolerant than previous ones?Elvira Koneva

In America’s children, we often see hope for a better future, especially when it comes to reducing racism.

Each new generation of white people, the thinking goes, will naturally and inevitably be more...

The science, skill – and luck – behind evacuation order calls

Written by Susan L. Cutter, Carolina Distinguished Professor of Geography and Director Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute, University of South Carolina

A sunny day evacuation days before Hurricane Florence made landfall in North CarolinaAP Photo/Tom Copeland

More than 1 million people in the Carolinas were ordered to evacuate days before Hurricane Florence hit landfall.

Government officials order coastal evacuation even when it’s sunny at the beach with not a cloud in the sky and no hint of...

Catastrophe overload? Read philosophers and poetry instead of headlines

Written by Rachel Hadas, Professor of English, Rutgers University Newark

Read poetry.Photo by Priscilla Du Preez/Unsplash, CC BY-SA

For almost two years now, Americans have been confronted daily by ominous tidings. We are living through stressful times. Reading the news feels awful; ignoring it doesn’t feel right either.

Psychologist Terri Apter recently wrote about the “phenomenon in human behavior...

Federal funding for higher ed comes with strings attached, but is still worth it

Written by Jason Alix Coupet, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, North Carolina State University

Even privately run colleges and universities get money from the federal government.ITTIGallery/Shutterstock.com

When nonprofit colleges and universities get federal funding for research and to support students, do government regulations make it difficult to fulfill their missions?

As a professor who studies the organizational performance of...

Digitizing the vast 'dark data' in museum fossil collections

Written by Charles Marshall, Professor of Paleontology and Director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley

With a lot not on display, museums may not even know all that's in their vast holdings.AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

The great museums of the world harbor a secret: They’re home to millions upon millions of natural history specimens that almost never see the light of day. They lie hidden from public view, typically housed behind or above the public...

How the zebrafish got its stripes

Written by Alexandria Volkening, Postdoctoral Fellow in Applied Mathematics, The Ohio State University

Zebrafish are known for their black and gold stripes.NICHD/flickr, CC BY

Stripes are common in our lives. It’s a pretty basic pattern, and easy to take for granted.

As an applied mathematician who studies how patterns form in nature, though, I am wowed by the striped patterns the zebrafish wears across its body and fins.

Take a closer look...

Rivers flood regularly during hurricanes, but get less attention than coastlines

Written by Craig E. Colten, Carl O. Sauer Professor of Geography, Louisiana State University

Flooding in Kinston, North Carolina during Tropical Storm Florence, September 14, 2018.NC National Guard, CC BY

Hurricane Florence, now a tropical depression, has dropped record-setting rainfall on parts of North Carolina. Many river gauges show waterways above flood stage. Flash and long-term flooding, as well as a risk of landslides, are expected...

¿Por qué sentimos el olor de la lluvia?

Written by Tim Logan, Instructional Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University

Su olfato percibe lo que va a pasar.Lucy Chian/Unsplash, CC BY

Cuando caen las primeras gotas de lluvia del verano al suelo caliente y seco, ¿acaso notas el aroma?

Recuerdo muy bien mis primeros años de niñez. Entre mis familiares había unos campesinos que solían decir que anticipaban las tormentas, antes de que...